For Utterson to be effective within the novel he has to represent the perfect Victorian gentleman, which he does. He consistently seeks to preserve order, decorum and reputation, does not gossip and guards his friends’ reputations as though they were his own. Even when he suspects his friend Jekyll of criminal activities such as blackmail or the sheltering of a murderer, he prefers to sweep what he has learned-or what he thinks he has learned-under the rug rather than bring ruin upon his good friend. However what Utterson is doing is repressing the darker side of Victorian society in which your reputation had to be impeccable. “Henry Jekyll, MD, DCL, FRS and c” shows Jekyll to be an eminent and respected member of his profession who gets by on his reputation. The importance of reputation is a recurring theme throughout the novel and the prevalence of this value system is evident in the way that upright men such as Utterson avoid gossip at all costs; he sees gossip as a destroyer of reputation Similarly, when Utterson suspects Jekyll first of being blackmailed and then of sheltering Hyde from the police, he does not make his suspicions known; part of being a good friend of Jekyll’s is a willingness to keep his secrets and not ruin his respectability. This would have been a general social concern. The importance of reputation in the novel also reflects the importance of appearances and facades which often hide a sordid underside. In many instances, Utterson, true to his Victorian society, adamantly wishes not only to preserve Jekyll’s reputation but also to preserve the appearance of order and decorum, even as he senses a vile truth lurking underneath. “A murderer’s autograph”. Only an invitation to dinner”. Even though Utterson is suspicious of what Jekyll is up to, he refuses to share his suspicions with nobody else and in doing so protects Jekyll’s reputation.
Utterson’s status as the epitome of Victorian norms also stems from his devotion to reason and common sense. He investigates what becomes a supernatural sequence of events but never allows himself to even entertain the notion that something uncanny may be going on. He considers that misdeeds may be occurring but not that the mystical or metaphysical might be afoot. Thus, even at the end when he is summoned by Poole to Jekyll’s home and all the servants are gathered frightened in the hallway, Utterson stills continues to look for an explanation that preserves reason: “Supposing Dr.Jekyll to have been-well, murdered, what could induce the murderer to stay? That won’t hold water; it doesn’t command itself to reason”. Even now Utterson is thinking rationally and is not dragged into speculation. He desperately searches for excuses not to take any drastic steps to interfere with Jekyll’s life. In Utterson’s devotion to both decorum and reason, Stevenson depicts Victorian society’s general attempt to maintain the authority of civilization over and against humanity’s darker side. Stevenson suggests that just as Utterson prefers the suppression or avoidance of revelations to the scandal or chaos the truth might unleash, so too does Victorian society prefer to repress and deny the existence of an uncivilized or savage element of humanity, no matter how intrinsic that element might be.
Yet even as Utterson adheres rigidly to order and rationality, he does not fail to notice the uncanny quality of the events he investigates. Indeed because we see the novel through Utterson’s eyes, Stevenson can’t allow Utterson to be too unimaginative-otherwise the novel’s eerie mood would suffer. Correspondingly, Stevenson attributes nightmares to Utterson and grants ominous premonitions as he moves through the city at night-neither of which seem to suit the lawyer’s normally reasonable personality, which is rarely given to flights of fancy: “That human juggernaut trod the child down and passed on regardless of her screams”. This gives a different side to Utterson and shows his own shock and horror at society’s darker side and this shows that Utterson is affected by the power of this darker side, because of the fact that he is the perfect gentleman in Victorian society. He does not understand his own repressed feelings and fantasies.
The novel shows a complete contrast between Jekyll and Utterson. Utterson is reluctant to show his fascination of the western culture whilst Jekyll is clearly affected by this western culture. This is shown through his experiments which allow him to turn into Hyde and explore his darker side. “The pleasures which I made haste to seek my disguise were, as I have said, undignified”. Having experienced a taste of his darker personality, Jekyll’s fascination increases with it and he begins to indulge himself in this dark underworld. Through Jekyll, Stevenson sends out his own message that we should be wary of this darker side and try to repress it in all forms. Utterson’s refusal to indulge in his darker side shows yet again how he applies himself religiously to the Victorian values of life and will not allow himself to waver from that particular path. Jekyll is a much more curious character than Utterson, which is why he explores his darker side through the savage murderer Hyde. Also, because he is a doctor, Jekyll is imprisoned by the power of science, as this is what is entailed in his job. “Let me but escape into a laboratory door”. Throughout the novel Jekyll spends a great amount of time in his laboratory carrying out experiments. This is because he has become indebted to the power of science and therefore this is where his fascination his sprung from.
In conclusion, Utterson represents the perfect gentleman of the Victorian era but also reflects the insecurities of Victorian society. He is a largely unexciting character with no huge passions. He does not try to ruin Jekyll’s reputation and despite his suspicions he does not air them and prefers to stick to order and decorum. He is a devotee to reason and common sense and even at the end he still refuses to take part in idle gossip and prefers to find a sensible solution. Through his nightmares wee can see that he does feel a sense of fascination about the darker side of society but detests it. Finally, Jekyll contrasts to Utterson by the fact that once he has explored the darker side of society he wants more and feels fascination unlike Utterson. Utterson is not as imprisoned by the power of science to warrant the depths to which Dr.Jekyll went to explore the unknown.
